Written evidence to be reported to the House

Part of Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 5:00 pm on 16 October 2007.

Alert me about debates like this

Cindy Barnett: Yes, there are. At the moment, we can have 10, 11 or 12-year-olds in court. It is not a pleasant experience. We have powers that we can use, which are to some extent replicated or renamed in the youth rehabilitation order. It comes back to the general point. First, we are wholly in favour of as much diversion as possible before youngsters enter the criminal courts, and the younger the person, the stronger that feeling is. Secondly, we desire as much flexibility as possible in sentencing, so that we can tailor whatever sentence is necessary if they do arrive before us and we must deal with them, rather than being in any sense straitjacketed or fettered. Again, the younger the person, the more we would like that flexibility.